GABRIELLE Mohamed, a 26-year-old poet and playwright, is seeking to lend her efforts to the mainstreaming of Guyanese Creole in literary works to foster the development of an authentic, Guyanese voice in writing.

On Sunday, at the Roraima Duke Lodge, the young woman launched two of her books. The first is a collection of plays called “Blackout Daze”, and the second is her collection of poetry called “Is you madness, nah me own”.

Speaking briefly at her moderate launch, the Gabrielle highlighted that as a writer that chooses to integrate creolese in her works, she has found that the reception for her writings are often met with some degree of “ignorance”. Creolese, according to her, is still largely frowned upon as ‘improper’ English. Through her own volition, however, she has decided to use the language in her writings despite these perceptions.

Importantly, Gabrielle was selected as one of the three writers to represent Guyana at the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) XIV, held earlier this year in Trinidad and Tobago, and it was there that these two books were put under the limelight.

“The creole is important to me because it’s for my people back home [in Guyana],” she explained to the Guyana Chronicle, “Any person, from any stature in society, could pick up [my books] and be able to relate to it.”

Additionally, the young writer indicated that she uses her writings to spotlight local social issues, albeit with the use of her imagination, a bit of history and folklore, and fiction.

Gabrielle also provided some insight into the experiences that necessitated her present success as a published writer. These included an unsuccessful attempt at the Walter Rodney Creative Writing Awards, and closer to home, her own mother falling ill.

“From the valley of darkness, the seeds of light began to grow,” the writer said, explaining that these, and other experiences, were all part and parcel of the process

Furthermore, Mohamed shared that she never imagined that one day she would be an author, much less an author of two books. Notably, both of Gabrielle’s pieces are self-published, owing to the difficulties faced locally in doing so.